REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan asserted Jakarta Provinicial Government has stopped the construction of reclamation islets in Jakarta Bay. However, existing reclamation islets would not be demolished.

“It will not be dismantled because the environmental damage from the demolition will be extraordinary,” said Anies on Thursday (Sept 27).

Anies also has formed the Reclamation Management Coordinating Board in June 2018. The agency then conducted a review with the developers, which later resulted in a decision to revoke the principle permit for the construction of 13 man-made islands.

Revocation was also in line with the halt of constuction of C islet which has reached a half-way. C islet construction was stopped as it was sealed by Jakarta Provincial Government.

“For the islet that has been built in half, it will not be continued,” Anies added.

Anies said the islets that have been built will be utilized in accordance with spatial planning and regional plans in Jakarta. He asserted the top priority was to determine function of existing islets. Moreover, the development has proceeded without regional planning.

Anies explained management of the four islets will depend on the results of the provincial government's planning study. According to him, public and private areas could be determined from the result of planning study.

Anies explained initially Jakarta Bay reclamation project to build 17 islets. Four islets have been made before 2014.

The Jakarta Bay reclamation projects, located in northern Jakarta, have been controversial since the start. Local fishermen have expressed their objection to the mega projects, as their livelihoods have been significantly affected.

Several non-governmental organizations had also opposed the reclamation projects, as they harm the coastal environment. One of the serious questions often posed was from where the sand, coral, and other solid materials needed for building the man-made islands in the Jakarta Bay were sourced from. Massive sand and coral mining could endanger or even make an island and several islets vanish.

Jakarta's bay reclamation also became subject to hot debate during the gubernatorial election campaign last year. During the campaign period, Anies and his deputy Sandiaga Uno repeatedly vowed to stop that project.

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